Air traffic disruptions that delayed tens of thousands of passengers across four Western states last week were caused by a computer glitch stemming from a problematic flight plan for a single U-2 Air Force spy plane, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
In a statement released Monday, the agency confirmed that air-traffic control computers “experienced problems” while processing a flight plan for the U-2 aircraft, which can fly as high as 70,000 feet. The computers erroneously perceived the high altitude aircraft as if it was a “typical low altitude operation” for a route below 10,000 feet.
WST